


But I See You

by Viola_Cantas



Series: Yanisleidy Roselle, The Coeurlfist [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Highlander Hyur Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 2.0: A Realm Reborn Spoilers, end of ARR, light mention of injuries/wounds, local woman cant stop using song lyrics as titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29672154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viola_Cantas/pseuds/Viola_Cantas
Summary: In the immediate aftermath of the coup in Ul'dah, Yanisleidy and Alphinaud begin picking up the pieces.
Relationships: Alphinaud Leveilleur & Warrior of Light
Series: Yanisleidy Roselle, The Coeurlfist [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984600
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	But I See You

**Author's Note:**

> CW/TW: light mention of wounds/injuries
> 
> This not a direct sequel to [You'll Never Know Me At All](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27187387), but they are loosely related.

It was silent and unbearably loud all at once. Some distance away, Yanisleidy could hear the Brass Blades’ search parties calling out for them, shouting orders. She pulled the borrowed cloak tighter around her shoulders and across from her, Alphinaud tugged his hood lower, the owl-like mask further hiding his thin features. Brendt sat with his arms folded, his demeanor more suited to leisure than to harboring accused assassins. Marshal Tarupin kept watch over the path behind them, standing at the end of the wagon. No one spoke, and the silence was suffocating.

They'd all already shared their pieces, now it was all they could do to wait until they arrived at the meeting location with their second benefactor.

Alphinaud was taking it hard.

She had humored him when he'd begun his little pet project, recruiting those faces she'd remembered into his merry band to help his cause. She didn't care much for the lordling boy, but she harbored no ill will toward him; in fact, she actually _liked_ the idea of a banner uniting Eorzeans to fight for the whole when trouble came knocking. That they might have a self-inflated little leader at the head was not necessarily a deal-breaker; from what she'd seen of Eorzean politicians, he certainly fit right in. 

But he was a boy. A boy her age. And for all his schooling, just as blindsided by the Crystal Braves betrayal as she was. More so, probably.

So she tried her best not to show she saw the tears gleaming on his cheeks as the cart lurched onward.

It wasn't until they'd stopped near Black Brush that anyone really spoke again, and it was Brendt, sending them on their way to meet Cid, of all people. It would be just her and Alphinaud on the road for the time, so they bid their goodbyes to the merchant and the Marshal before turning to the worn path.

It wasn't a long walk to their meeting place, but they would have to wait. The silence in Thanalan on any other night would be peaceful, nice. But tonight the quiet gave her room to think about everyone she'd left behind and she didn’t want that. Not now. She needed to not think.

"Are you alright?"

Alphinaud looked up at her, his hood and long hair hiding most of his face from her view.

She spoke before he could answer, deadpan.

"Stupid question, I know."

"No, you… you are concerned for me, and I appreciate the gesture. It is just… So much has happened I cannot-" He shook his head, unwilling to continue. He looked up at her again, pulling his hood back carefully. A silent question shone in his eyes. _And you?_

"I'm… This is… Gods.” She pressed her palms into her eyes. “Gods damn, Seven Hells; Rhalgr, _take this night."_ Scrubbing her face with her hands, she stopped to flex them out before her, wincing. Working out the stiffness would take some time, and there would be bruises come morn-

"What happened to your arms, Yanisleidy?" Alphinaud pushed the hair out of his eyes now, brows furrowed as he looked more actively over her. Her sleeves had ridden up, exposing the angry red marks lacing across her fore and upper arms.

It felt obvious. "They tied me up."

"Tied you up?"

“Yeah. My arms.”

“So thoroughly?” He looked over the zig-zagging cuts with disgust. "Such restraints… it seems excessive.”

"Monks fight with their arms and legs, can't fight if they hog-tie you." The words felt far away from her. The memory, however, felt very real as she recalled the sheer number of men they brought to overpower her. They pinned her to the floor like a wild animal caught in a trap; like the moment before the hunter puts a knite in its heart.

One of his hands hovered over her arm as she spoke, as if touching the stinging red lashes would cause her to fall apart before him.

"That they went to such lengths… it beggars belief. And here, by your elbow?"

She pulled her arm up toward her face, finding a short, half-scabbed wound there.

"Maybe Raubahn nicked me when he cut me loose. Too much going on for me to really notice."

"Yanis- Yanisleidy. These wounds will scar if they go untreated." He tripped over her name, like everyone always did. She watched him pull the thick book he always wore off his hip, a curious sight.

“I am no stranger to scars.” She felt her eyepatch rub at the welt on her cheek as she spoke.

“Be that as it may, please, allow me to heal them." The spine of the book creaked as he opened it, the neat print and graphs within it nonsensical to her.

"Really, I'm alright."

"Yanisleidy." There was no stumble this time, his voice nearly cracking at the force. "Let me do this."

Alphinaud wasn't looking at her, but down at his tome, his hand spread across the pages, barely trembling as he traced one of the shapes. She had half a mind to duck to his height to get a good look at his face, but she forced that impulse back.

"Okay."

"Thank you."

She sat at a nearby rock, to try and ease some of the strain of their height difference. It was the oddest thing she'd learned in Eorzea: elezen don't grow as fast as everybody else. Sure, she'd seen a _couple_ elezen in Ala Mhigo, but they were so far and few that she figured they grew up normal like everybody else.

But here he was, a year younger than her and nearly a fulm and half shorter.

"Roll up your sleeves, I want to be thorough."

"Tho-thorough?" She squinted at him in the dusk.

"Yes?" He shot her a confused look.

"What… does that mean?" 

With his hair in his face, it was hard to tell his expression but his answer was less impatient than she expected. "... I want to be certain I don't miss any of your wounds."

"Oh, right." She did as she was told, pulling the threadbare cloak up over her shoulder guards for good measure. He surveyed her arms again, this time brushing them gently with the tips of his fingers. They stung, but not enough to flinch, and his fingers were cold, cold to her at least.

"This will take just a moment."

She'd seen the spell in question before, but not performed by the young Sharlayan. No, one of the adventurer's she'd joined up with used these skills. Scholar spells, if she remembered right.

It was fascinating to watch. As he began reciting the spell, eyes scanning over the text quickly, a wind whipped up around them. It picked up speed quickly, pushing the hair back from his face, releasing his long white braid to fall over his shoulder.

In a quick movement, he was holding the book out before her and an energy washed over her. A familiar feeling, this kind of magic, but unique to him. Alphinaud's felt like a beam of warm sunlight falling over her, soothing her bruises and cuts.

Rubbing at her now healed wrists, she looked over to the Sharlayan. "Thanks. You didn't have to do all that."

"Perhaps. ‘Twas my fault, however, that such events befell you in the first place." 

"How?" She watched him grit his teeth, shaking his head. She didn’t wait for his answer. “Who’s blaming you?”

He huffed at that, his blue eyes sharp. “Do you _not?”_

“No.”

Alphinaud looked stunned. Absolute disbelief on his dainty features.

“Did you think _I_ would blame you?” She was many things, but she liked to think cruel was not one of them.

“What else would you-”

“Oy! Over here!” Cid’s voice was clear in the quiet night, as was the hum of the Enterprise's engines as he brought the airship low to meet them.

Alphinaud shot her a look that was… unreadable at best, but she gave him back what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

Maybe he wasn't so… bad?

Maybe he wasn't that bad.

She'd have to see more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This has been sitting in my writing folder for a while now but I've been tweaking it to a point where I really like it now.  
> Like I said in the beginning notes, this is something of a sequel to [You'll Never Know Me At All](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27187387) and related to [You and Me Against the World is Nothing New](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962935), but neither of these are required reading. If you liked this, I hope you'll check them out :)


End file.
